Argumentative Natures & Explosives
by SailorSilvanesti
Summary: Tumblr Prompt, "Marry Me? -Charles Xavier" AU. Charles finds himself carefully talking Erik down from launching a missile into a populated area, as a demonstration of resistance towards the government... and things end a little more complicated and wonderful than previously imagined.


Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men, or any associated characters.

Tumblr Prompt, "Marry Me -Charles Xavier" AU.

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**~*Argumentative Natures & Explosives*~**

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It was in that final moment, that he made his decision…

Magneto, as he preferred to be known, gazed into the eyes of the only person on the entire planet who could stop him… and felt strangely bereft at the knowledge that the other would not. True, he could not intervene due to the telepath-negating powers of the helmet he donned, but the expression gazing back at him bespoke that the other's truest wish was for Magneto to make the choice to stop this.

Something deep within shifted with all the subtlety of a bookshelf full of heavy tomes being toppled. Even without telepathy, Charles Xavier had always been a powerful force to be reckoned with… those eyes could make even the most hard-hearted of men soften, and his gentle words had proven capable of turning an entire army around on several occasions.

With a deep-seated sigh, Erik allowed the missile to launch itself high into the sky, angling far enough so that when he finally did force it to explode, the scrape metal resulting from detonation did not fall upon even a single one of the human scum.

He lowered himself to only a foot off the ground, and glared at the man he loved, whose piercing eyes stared back with equal ferver; they did share a deep connection, based on affection and their intertwined pasts and present… but there was also an edge of danger to it. Not unlike two alpha wolves circling one another, consistently challenging one another's authority, and neither ever ceding dominance unless it was imperative to the other's continued survival.

Not unlike this very moment.

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"Why?" came the softly-spoken word, the eyes never leaving his own.

Erik had been expecting it, but still… it was hard to try and logically explain why you had intended to launch a missile into a randomly chosen suburban area of humans in order to demonstrate your abilities to a government official who was both anti-mutant and several hundred miles away in another state and would likely not give a damn about the whole incident.

…when he thought of it in those terms, with the red mist of anger completely cleared from his mind and vision, it did truly seem like a ridiculous plan.

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He dropped to the ground and slid off his helmet, thankful that today the majority of the school was on holiday, and those remaining were off on a hike or some other contrived activity with Wolverine, so that he and Charles might have some time alone.

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As Logan had so vulgarly pointed out the evening before, "You're fighting more and more and it's getting on my nerves… I know you're worried one of the kids with superhearing might be scarred for life if you deal with your uh, 'anger issues'… but how about this bubs… I take the kids for an activity tomorrow and you two kill off the sexual tension around here before I have to carve my way through it with my claws!"

Honestly, it was the most Erik had ever heard the man say in one go, but he'd graciously agreed. Only, a slight on the morning news as they'd been eating breakfast alone in the glorious silence of an empty school, by a local member of the white house cabinet, had sent Erik into a rage.

Just a slur against mutant-kind, and the frustration of the last few months came bursting out from where it had been boiling under the metal-manipulator's skin, in spectacular fashion.

Honestly, the whole thing had been a bit of a blur of angry red haze that clouded his judgement, and the next thing he knew Erik had been hovering over the school, holding a large missile high above aimed at the nearest populace that would exclude the Institute in the eventual blast radius.

And there was Charles, talking him down as always…

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In truth, what else could the poor man do?

Magneto helmet on, Erik was untouchable, and Charles was confined to his chair made of metal… it took quite a significant amount of bravery to face down a man capable of manipulating the chair out from under you, in a literal sense.

Many nights, he'd lay awake long after Charles had fallen asleep, and slide his Magneto helmet on so as to not disturb the telepath… as close proximity and skin contact were two of the manners in which the telepathic ability was strengthened most. Thinking of the moment when he had consigned the beautiful, far-too-young man to a fate worse than death…

The choice. The choice was a fate worth than death.

To give up his powers and walk, or be the greatest telepath who ever lived… and live in a wheelchair. Erik constantly questioned which he would choose, and always found himself leaning towards the former; but when he questioned himself as to why he feared the wheelchair, saw it as a death sentence even… he realised it had roots back from the days he was interred at the concentration camps wherein the weak, the sick and the disabled… those not perfect physical specimens, were killed off for it.

A subconscious fear that still gripped him even now, though time had washed away all but the barest of handprints from that time period, where it once used to ensnare him like an iron fist.

Perhaps, too, it was also self-hatred for causing this… that he projected onto the chair itself; the physical symbol for his pride, his anger, his folly. So many reasons…

Of course, one night he had forgotten to wear the helmet, so deep in thought… it was not until a gentle touch on his face and a calm voice in his mind urged him to stop beating himself up about what was and focus on what would be, that he realised Charles had heard him. Was responding to soothe instinctually.

The next morning they two had had a long, telepathic conversation about the situation… Charles pointing out that he did blame Erik for the events that occurred, nor did he feel consigned or broken for the use of his chair… it was simply what was, and he loved Erik, and his greatest wish was for Erik to love himself the way he did. To stop focusing on the pain of the past and move into the future with his… whatever they were to each other…

And Erik had understood.

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The moment his boots hit the grass of the academy's athletics field, the great Magneto took two swift steps and collapsed to one knee in front of Charles.

'Forgive me…' he begged with both eyes and mind, knowing the other could hear him perfectly now the helmet was gone.

A hand touched his hair, ruffled it slightly, then moved down to caress his cheek. 'You know I always will…' was the reply.

It was so strange to feel so moved by such simple words; he briefly wondered if this was how metal felt when he was manipulating it with his imagination and will. Not that Charles would ever manipulate him, but… the feeling of being moved by a will both your own, and yet alien… was hard to describe otherwise.

'Professor X' as the students had come to call him, flooded Erik with a sense of tranquillity, helping him to finally step off that mental tier of alert battle-readiness and back t himself again.

He found himself looking up into the eyes of the man he held in the highest regard, the man he loved most in this world, and he knew that he could not deny that his affections were both true and reciprocated.  
The sensation caused a warmth to flood his extremities, as it nearly always did when he was near his Charles…

On impulse, he projected a hurried, 'Marry Me?' to the telepath, whose eyes widened in response and surprise.

Erik sucked in a breath and repeated, 'Charles Xavier, would you please do me the honour of marrying me…?'

Charles was taken aback for a long moment, then smiled warmly and laced their fingers together as he dropped his forehead to rest against Erik's.

'Yes, of course I will…' he smiled as he answered.

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Logan would return later with the children, to cautiously peer inside and make certain no one under-age was going to be scarred for life by accident…

No one was, but it was a near-miss… thankfully, telepaths can freeze people in their places until they can find their pants…

Wasn't being a mutant wonderful…?

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**The End**


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